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Thursday, 24 October 2013

Warding off the cold

So the autumn has arrived. And with it random cold days and the general temperature is slowly getting lower. Its a time of year where I really have to watch myself. I have mild Reynauld's Syndrome, a circulatory condition. During the warmer months I never have a problem, aside from the fact, as my husband will confirm, my feet are blocks of ice 365 days of the year. You know when I have a fever because my feet are actually warm to everyone else. Usually I don't feel the cold in my feet except late at night in winter before I go to bed and get them snug. My hands however, are a whole different kettle of fish.

Warmer months are not a problem, but regardless of the time of year, if my hands get cold enough, I have problems. Aside from going numb and struggling to work, the colder they get, the more likely I am to have a nasty flare. My hands will suddenly become hot, itchy, and swell rapidly, which in turns traps my rings on my fingers and makes things worse. So you can imagine that should a flare up happen, the first thing I do is yank my rings off and try and get my hands warm before it gets too bad. Though really I work at preventing flares. Which can happen indoors. In my house, even with the central heating set at a sensible 18 degrees Celcius. Yes, even in a reasonably warm house my hands can freeze, and typically one is colder than the other. So I need mitts for indoors. And to be able to do anything, they need to be fingerless.

So that was the impetus behind the project. I have been getting by on some plain stockinette ones which... fitted... ish. I made them up as I went, but I really needed an upgrade. The pattern is Fingerless Pomatomus Gloves. And they are based on the sock pattern of the same name by Cookie A. I actually have a pair of those socks. So I have been wanting to knit the mitts for some time.

The yarn is Wollmeise, yet again. I do use it a fair bit when I can afford it. The colourway I had to get. Because it shares a name with my husband. And the sap I am likes the idea of my husband keeping my hands warm. Just like he lets me warm my feet on him ;)

Its called Paul, and the mitts took just 49g of a 150g skein. Leaving me with plenty to attempt to do a matching beanie hat! Wish me luck!

So that's the story behind this project, and I shall leave you with a couple of pictures of me wearing them. Which you better like, because you have no idea how hard it is to take pictures of you own hands by yourself! Only joking, but yes, takes some work!